Hashmi, Reid spar on education issues as LG’s race heats up

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Education is becoming a defining issue in the race for lieutenant governor. 

Democratic nominee Ghazala Hashmi held a roundtable discussion with education leaders in Richmond on Wednesday, where she criticized her opponent, Republican John Reid, over his support for various school choice initiatives, saying they would defund public education. 

Hashmi said that any efforts to use taxpayer money to help parents enroll their kids in private schools often leave less wealthy families stuck in public schools with fewer resources. 

“Those parents that can take those voucher dollars and then afford the additional cost of tuition are able to move their children into private education, leaving so many vulnerable students behind,” Hashmi said.

However, in an interview with 8News, Reid said that with test scores not improving in Virginia, parents should have the option to find better options for their children. 

“I’m advocating that you, as a parent, say, this school system isn’t working, so I get to take a percentage of the $15-$20,000 that we’re spending on every kid, it’s probably not gonna be the full amount, but some of that money to go hire yourself a teacher or to get with likeminded people and teach your kids,” Reid said.

On whether transgender women should be allowed to access women’s spaces in Virginia’s schools, Reid called transgender ideology a “mental illness,” and said biological women should have protected spaces. 

“I think that’s reasonable, I think that’s responsible. I think that’s fair, and someone like me needs to stand up for it,” Reid said.

Meanwhile, Hashmi told 8News the following. 

“We’ve been working to address those issues at a local level, and I know our local school boards have enunciated their policies on a variety of issues, including our transgender children and the issue of children in sports, that authority rests in the hands of the Virginia High School League,” Hashmi said.